This may be welcome news for some of you and potentially unwelcome news for others. But only if you subscribe to the “trines = goodWOWawesome” version of astrological reality.
Yes, trines represent planetary interactions that feel second nature, that are well integrated and run smoothly. They run so smoothly that they can operate in the background of our awareness. That’s why they produce talents or success— we don’t have to try. The goodies are just *there.*
But what if that background processing has been compromised? What if malware has inconspicuously started running the show?
To make sense of this, I think of a newsletter Steven Forrest once wrote about the nature of trines. In it, and to paraphrase, he likened the potential sneakiness of the trine to two alcoholics supporting each other’s drinking habit by agreeing that neither of them drink too much. Yes, technically in that hypothetical interaction, the two parties agreed. That’s a harmonious interaction. But the result of that interaction isn’t actually that great. It’s actively damaging even.
It is possible that planets involved in a trine can aid and abet each other in manifesting as negative behaviors. Planetary enablers. Unlike a square or an opposition, there is no friction to jam up the airwaves, no internal struggle, no negotiation, no pause. Even conjunctions relay a heavy vortex of energy that sticks out in our awareness. With a trine, the faucet is always running without obstruction.
If you’ve heard the idea that “difficult” aspects can create very successful people, then you may understand that some level of internal conflict or struggle can help push us to overcome. And sometimes with stellar results.
But with trines, there is no adversarial force that can emphasize or make obvious a potentially damaging behavior (or perspective, belief, attitude, etc.). There is no struggle.
As a result, some trines manifest as major blind spots. Unless there is a proactive hijack of the background processing, by understanding the nature and potential of the planets, signs and houses involved, some trines can infect your life with malware, and you wouldn’t even know it.
And yes, I know the totality of a person and their chart is more than just one aspect. But understanding parts of the chart in isolation cand build towards better understanding of the chart as a whole.
Let’s look at some examples, hypothetical and real.
Trines involving Jupiter are perhaps the most illustrative. Left unchecked, Jupiter trines can manifest as flagrant excesses. Let’s say someone has Jupiter trine Mercury. Their mind is chalk full of inspiring ideas and vast amounts of knowledge. Maybe they can easily convey their messages to the masses or wrap their head around abstract or philosophical concepts. But the trine that supports their intellectual growth is the same trine that can contribute to unchecked idealism, rigid and dogmatic perspectives, or constant spiritualizing. You may imagine that this person thinks big but easy spirals when their ideas don’t play out well in reality, or when their intellectual talents are questioned by others, or when they cannot spiritualize themselves out of real-world problems. The blind spot? Potentially thinking that you know it all and thus closing your mind to other perspectives. Potentially deluding yourself or thinking with unfounded grandiosity. Sure, this may not ruin their lives – but it may periodically jeopardize their relationships, reputation, or mental health.
Let’s look at a Moon – Saturn trine. In popular astrological literature, these folks are responsible and mature down to the bone. That is true and it is a handy asset for survival in the material world. But if trines are free-flowing faucets of energy, we can imagine that the more gnarly archetypes of Saturn bleed into a person’s emotional landscapes too. They are hard on themselves, deny themselves, or suffer from chronic inadequacy that makes them feel unlovable. These lemons can become lemonade. Or they can sour a person’s spirit with a practically automatic and constant stream of negative feelings.
Kurt Cobain had both trines mentioned, between the signs of Cancer and Pisces. And let’s also throw his Pisces Venus into the mix (he had a Pisces stellium with Mercury, Venus and Saturn forming trines to his Moon and Jupiter in Cancer. His Sun was also in Pisces but wasn’t, by degree, as tightly involved in these trines). It goes without saying that Cobain was supremely gifted and influential. But also supremely troubled in ways that appeared inescapable. He had an unquenchable desire to love and be loved by others, a romanticism that led to much heartache. His struggled with his attempt to just be a bachelor and was pulled into the orbits of women he was infatuated with for better and worse.
His mother’s divorce and unstable childhood also impacted him greatly. With the Moon (nurturing, childhood, mom) as his most elevated planet and trine his chart ruler Mercury, this early seed of unhappiness imperceptivity directed his life. Moon – Mercury trines contribute to great artistic and creative talent, but also muddy a person’s ability to think objectively. Feelings can become facts for these folks, and negative impressions can easily infect the way you view yourself and the world.
Let’s look to his Venus – Jupiter trine. Again, responsible for behemoth creative talents and adoration from others. But this trine also inflames indulgence and the need to feel good all the time. In a person like Cobain, this made drugs an obvious and easy escape hatch. In everyday people, it may create shopping, gambling, or food addictions. Or straight up laziness.
Pluto trines are also tricky. Yes, for instance, a Moon – Pluto trine can endow a person with deep emotional resolve and resilience, even a psychic capacity that can be used suss out helpful information others would miss. The capacity for positive transformation of self and others is tremendous. But Pluto deals in darkness. A constant flood of subliminally intense material can easily overwhelm a person and create a gloomy outlook on life or make them act on their darkest impulses.
Pablo Escobar had Moon in Aries trine Pluto in Leo and is obviously known for the lengths he went in order maintain his drug empire, with some biographies estimating he killed people in the thousands. He grew up in poverty and resolved to, in response, become a powerful person. This evokes the Moon’s involvement—early childhood experiences which compel one to overcorrect or cope in extreme ways (Pluto). And with trines, that reaction is natural and automatic. Vladmir Putin and Kim Jong-Un, two famous dictators, have Mars – Pluto trines, which has an enabling influence on coercive or violent actions, and can spur powerful propaganda machines and cults of personality.
In our own lives, Mars – Pluto trines can manifest as steely willpower that helps us beat the odds and accomplish great feats. Or as profoundly destructive behaviors like substance abuse, a trigger-happy temper, or taking masochistic pleasure in self-sabotage.
This is in no way an attempt to subvert the nature of squares or oppositions, to paint them as universally positive or easy to deal with. Rather, this is about correcting the trine PR machine, and all machines that deal in this = good or that = bad binaries. But I also don’t intend to spook you out about your own trines. When a simplistic and blindly positive narrative is counterbalanced by a more cautious and thoughtful one, I think neutrality, or at least perspective, can be achieved. And from there, chart analysis becomes less paint-by-numbers and more coloring in the shapes, shades and shadows that actually match your life experience.
In my own life and astrological practice, I’ve found it helpful to work with the entire universe of possibilities that aspects can create. This means not biasing myself or my clients into thinking anything about their chart is overwhelming good or bad – but rather, looking at the chart as a complex and malleable matrix of potential.
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